


freefall

by sweettofu



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, does this even count as a single dad au, fluff just fluff, i love minseoks kids more than minseok does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 16:51:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11422131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweettofu/pseuds/sweettofu
Summary: Minseok is technically a single father, if you don't count that he's in love with his best friend who practically raised his twins with him.





	freefall

**Author's Note:**

> this derailed so fast where did the plot go im so sorry at least have some shameless pining

Minseok is already awake. His clock reads 5:42AM and he thinks it's much too early for Saturday, but the not-so-quiet whispers of ' _no, you go!_ ' down the hall remind him that there's no such thing. There's a second of silence, then a pitter patter of tiny feet rushing towards his room. Minseok hides a smile into his pillow and pretends to be asleep as he can feel someone approach the side of his bed.

"Daddy?" It's Haneul. "Daddy, are you awake?" His voice is so soft that had Minseok not been an Experienced Father™, he wouldn't have woken.

However since he _is_ an Experienced Father™, he lunges out of bed to pick up his son and tosses him onto his back. "Who dares wake me from my slumber? Face my wrath!" He blares, leaning down to tickle Haneul's stomach.

There's a slight bounce of his mattress before a body is on his back, screeching, "I'll save you!" through Haneul's giggling. Hanui's little fists barely punch at Minseok's back and her laugh is more non threatening than a newborn kitten; she is truly a vicious opponent. While Minseok tries to peel his daughter off his back, Haneul sits up, looking like he's discovered the secrets of the world.

"Daddy, it's snowing!"

Hanui shuffles to sit next to her brother, just as excited about the early snow. "Yeah! It snowed all night last night probably and even though we don't have our snow suits out yet it'll only take like five seconds to get them out so we go outside and play."

Haneul nods earnestly in agreement.

It's only early November so Minseok doubts there's that much snow, but his kids are so eager that he melts a little inside. He looks at the clock. 5:50AM.  "How about we all wash up and eat some breakfast, and if there's enough snow to make at least some snowballs then we'll go to the park, okay?"

Haneul's brows draw together, "And if there's not that much snow? What then?"

"Then we'll make a huge blanket fort and watch movies, how does that sound?"

"Monster's Inc.!" The twins yell at the same time before scrambling off Minseok's bed and into the direction of their bathroom.

Minseok falls back onto his pillows with a sigh, rubbing away the sleep from his eyes. For a moment, he watches the snow fall gently past his window and let's himself be amazed by the beauty of the unexpected weather.

There is a loud thud down the hall. The moment is over.

 

Half an hour later finds Minseok in the kitchen, flipping pancakes and setting the table with warm blueberries and honey. The twins are in the hall, pulling out their snow suits and mittens and the like. Surprisingly, Hanui was right, there was almost 10 centimeters of snow on the ground and though the sun wasn't up yet. They were going to the park after they ate.

When the kids run into the kitchen giggling about how silly they look in one another's winter hats, the doorbell rings — incessantly. There's only one person who would show up on Minseok's doorstep so early, and that's —

"Jongdae!" The twins shout. They practically trip over their own limbs trying to reach the door first, Hanui chanting an excited mantra of ' _Jongddai! Jongddai!_ '. Minseok follows them, ignoring that he's about as excited to see Jongdae as his kids are. Haneul jumps in his attempts to unlock the door and it's a sight that makes Minseok want to melt into a puddle of goo, but after several futile attempts he starts whining, so Minseok opens the door for him.

Jongdae barely has time to get out an excited ' _it's snowing!_ ' before the twins launch themselves at him, hugging his legs. He laughs, looking down at the kids affectionately. "Can you at least let me in before attacking? It's cold out here, monsters."

They pull back and pout, letting Jongdae step inside a greet Minseok with a grin, but the upset doesn't last very long. Hanui points at the tray in Jongdae's hand, "What's that?"

Jongdae looks directly at Minseok, eyes flashing with a familiar mischief, and crouches down to the twins' level. "Don't tell your dad but I got you guys some hot chocolate to celebrate the snow." He stage whispers, over exaggerated, and the twins giggle. "Oh, it's just some green tea," he says louder, as though to fool their father, "super healthy!"

"I'll let it slip as long as one of those cups says 'Americano'," Minseok grins. He turns to Haneul and Hanui. "Go get your mugs, Dae and I will be there in a second, okay?"

The kids run off and Jongdae toes off his boots. At the loss of the twins, his expression turns sheepish. "So, I know what you're thinking, I'm spoiling them and their teeth are gonna rot and —"

"Jongdae, I'm not thinking about that," Minseok interrupts, eyebrow raised. "What I'm thinking is that it's 6:30 in the morning; what coffee shop is open at this time?"

"Uh, remember the one Yixing mentioned, with the brick toast?"

"The one that's 20 minutes away?"

Jongdae claps his hands, "Well, the kids must be waiting for their hot chocolate!"

He rushes into the kitchen with the tray of drinks and Minseok heaves a sigh because he _knows_. He knows it would've taken Jongdae an hour to drive there and back, and the only way Jongdae would be awake so early is if he hadn't gone to bed. He was probably up doing extra work at the studio.

When Minseok walks back into the kitchen, Jongdae is serving the pancakes and the twins have set his place at the table. He doesn't notice any hints of fatigue or exhaustion in Jongdae when he sings an impromptu ditty about snowflakes or grabs Haneul’s hands to spin him around and dance to it. Before he can think about how he know’s that it’s the kids that give him so much energy, he busies himself with pouring the hot chocolate into their mugs.

“Daddy is always boring when he makes pancakes,” Hanui says, looking down at her plate once she seats herself. She looks directly at her Minseok, who’s trying his best to stifle a laugh. “Jongdae made us stars last time.”

“Your dad works very hard to make you finely shaped pancakes.” Jongdae stabs one with his fork and holds it up for the twins to see. “Look, today he made snowballs.”

“At least _someone_ in this house likes me,” Minseok says, walking over with the drinks and kissing the top of Hanui’s head as he sets hers down.

“I like you, Daddy!” Haneul says, but still scrambles up onto Jongdae’s lap.

“I’m sure,” Minseok deadpans. He watches Jongdae react effortlessly, pulling Haneul’s mug closer to him and cutting his pancakes into smaller pieces for Haneul to eat. Minseok turns away to cut Hanui’s pancakes instead.

 

It’s been like this for a while, ever since the twins were born — maybe before. Minseok only realized it when he had to work late due to a problem with a few client files. Jongdae usually picked up the kids from daycare and watched them until Minseok got home and made dinner, so Minseok barely thought before texting to let him know he’d have to feed and put the kids to bed on his own. Jongdae had replied with a cheery, ‘ _will do!_ ’ followed by,  _‘also, if hanui says anything about me giving them chocolate before dinner, she’s lying._ ’

Really, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

It was when Minseok got home that everything changed. Since the sun was already down and nearly all the lights in the house were off, Minseok had assumed the kids were asleep and Jongdae was just waiting for the elder to get home before he left. He was right, kind of. The kids _were_ asleep, just not in their beds, and with Jongdae between them. Haneul was tucked under Jongdae’s arm with his head pressed against Jongdae’s waist. Hanui was on Jongdae’s other side, curled up into a ball with her head on his lap. Jongdae himself was dead asleep, head bent forward giving him an unattractive double chin, and Minseok felt his heart leap to his throat.

He wanted to come home to that forever.

 

By the time Minseok and his kids return home from the park, all three of them are cloaked in snow and shivering. It started out as expected: Hanui immediately dropped onto the freshly blanketed snow to make snow angels and Haneul started to run around collecting materials to build a snowman. The turning point came when Minseok had his back turned, lifting the boulders of snow the twins had rolled up to complete their snowman. A snowball hit him in the back, between his shoulders. When he turned around Hanui was giggling and Haneul was kneeling in the snow next to a pile of more ammo. It went downhill from there.

Jongdae didn’t go with them, as per Minseok’s request. He was vehemently told to stay at the house and try to get some shuteye while they were out. Relief washed over Minseok when he saw Jongdae dead asleep on the couch. He held a finger over his mouth and pointed to Jongdae, the twins easily understanding what he meant. They slipped out of their snowsuits and tiptoed slowly up the stairs.

Haneul and Hanui were used to this — to Jongdae falling asleep on their couch some mornings when he came over, sometimes even in Minseok’s bed when the elder was overly worried. He was grateful that the kids understood in their own sort of childish way that Jongdae needed rest. They thought it was because Jongdae was a rockstar who sang all night long, which was true to an extent. Jongdae liked to sing for them though, so he never bothered to correct them.

“If you two want to go watch TV, you have to be quiet about it, okay?” Minseok looks between the kids as he zips up Hanui’s sweater.

Haneul shakes his head, the towel draped on top of it sliding off slightly. “I’m gonna be so quiet I’m not gonna even watch TV! I’m gonna colour!”

“Me too! Me too!” Hanui nods seriously. Minseok’s heart melts.

“How about you two draw Jongdae a picture for when he wakes up while Daddy takes a shower?”

Hanui gasps like it’s the best idea she’s ever heard before she runs out of the room. “I’m gonna draw Baymax!”

Minseok almost warns her about yelling after she _just_ promised to be quiet, but Haneul beats him to it. He chases after his sister with his finger pressed against his lips, making shushing sounds. Minseok’s fingers are still cold and icy water drips from his hair down his neck but he feels warm all over. Every once in awhile he wonders who likes Jongdae more: him, or his kids.

 

There’s giggling. A surprising amount of giggling, considering that the twins genuinely do try to keep down while Jongdae is asleep and when left to their own devices they bicker more than laugh. Minseok isn’t quite sure if he should be concerned or relieved. Either way, he knows he’s spent enough time enjoying the silence and warmth of the shower and quickly gets dressed to find what the ruckus is about.

Once downstairs, what he finds is unexpected but not entirely a surprise. There’s a blanket fort in the living room. A well crafted one, too. Sheets and blankets span across the entire living room, from the back of the couch to covering the TV, and no side is left visible. Within it, Minseok can hear the shrieking giggles of the kids and Jongdae’s bright laugh. He should’ve known Jongdae wouldn’t have slept as long as he wanted. Despite the ever-present feeling to kick Jongdae’s ass into bed and keep him there for 3 years, Minseok plays along.

He stomps closer and closer to the fort, over exaggerated and slow. “Fee-fi-fo-fum,” he bellows, voice comically deep. “I smell the blood of two kids and a dumb old man!”

The kids stifle their giggles while Jongdae pokes his head out of the fort. “Hey,” he grins. “You’re the only dumb old man in this house.”

Minseok roars and dives into the fort. Jongdae is faster, and has already pulled the twins into his laugh and is digging his head between their shoulders yelling ‘protect me!’. Minseok doesn’t give himself time to consider the twist in heart, the tremendous amount of affection that flows through him, before he lunges to steal Haneul away from Jongdae. Haneul screech-giggles as his father bites his shoulder softly.

“We can’t let the giant eat Haneul!” Jongdae says, but Hanui crawls onto his lap and keeps him from moving.

“Yes we can,” she nods seriously, watching as Minseok scoops Haneul into his arms and blows raspberries on his stomach. “Every man for himself.”

Jongdae barks a laugh, _definitely_ her father’s daughter. He pushes her away from him and scoots back further into the fort, “Then you can protect your own self.”

Minseok takes this chance to pull Hanui towards him as well, moving back and forth between his kids to press kisses on their cheeks. They struggle to get away but Minseok has them firmly caught in place. “Delicious kiddies for delicious kiddie stew!”

“What about Jongdae?” Hanuel asks.

Minseok scrunches his nose, “Jongdae probably tastes like rotten onions.”

Jongdae gasps, then throws the kids two pillows. “Defeat him! Defend my honour!”

They oblige, laughing as they hit their father with pillows and screeching whenever Jongdae or Minseok reaches out to tickle their sides. Eventually Minseok claps his hands to his chest and gasps before falling backwards. “You have… beat me… the great and powerful intimidating giant…” Minseok finishes with something again to a _blegh_ sound and goes limp, sticking his tongue out the corner of his mouth and squeezing his eyes shut.

“Intimidating?” Jongdae teases.

Minseok pushes himself up onto his forearms, opening one eye. “I’m plenty intimidating.”

“Y’know in the Lion King? When Simba practices his roar and it’s really small?” When the twins nod, Jongdae grins mischievously, “That’s kind of what your dad sounds like.”

Haneul and Hanui laugh while Minseok huffs, betrayed. “Well, you _look_ like Simba.” It’s only partly a joke. Jongdae’s hair is mussed like that of a mane from sleep and playing, and the natural upturn of his lips doesn’t help his case. Once he sits up it’s not hard to reach out and start to pat down Jongdae’s hair in the small space. His fingers comb delicately through Jongdae’s hair to smooth it back into place. They all go comfortably quiet, the only sounds being the twins trying to catch their breath.

 

Half an hour later finds them all lounging and watching the Lion King, thanks to Jongdae’s analogies. They’ve taken their usual movie-watching positions: Jongdae fully lying down with his arm propping up the back of his neck with Haneul on top of him, trying not to doze off, and Minseok leaning back against the couch with Hanui tucked under his arm, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and her fingers without knowing it.

“Daddy,” Hanui says out of the blue. Everyone turns to look at her. Her eyebrows are furrowed and her eyes are focused on her toes. She’s frowning, like she’s trying to figure out something serious. “Is Jongdae our mommy?”

Minseok jerks to sit up straight, head brushing against the top sheet. He risks a glance at Jongdae and the younger’s wide eyes tell him he would’ve done the exact same had Haneul not been lying against his chest. Haneul looks rather unaffected, his head turned to listen but his expression lazy.

“What makes you say that?” Minseok asks.

“Because Mrs. Lee told us that families are families because the mommy and the daddy love their kids and each other. And you love us, and Jongdae loves us, and Jongdae loves you, and you love Jongdae.” Hanui is looking at him now. Her eyes have softened but she still pouts like she’s confused, like she’s put all the puzzle pieces together but she doesn’t understand the picture.

“I— I don’t— I’ve never— I—” Minseok panics. He doesn’t know how to figure out how to say he doesn’t love Jongdae without hurting his best friend’s feelings.

Hanui speaks up again and it’s the furthest from a saving grace it could possibly be. “Yes you do! You love him, even if you don’t tell him, I know! I know because Mrs. Lee's hub— hus— hubs—”

“Husband,” Jongdae says softly. Minseok wants to die. Even at a time like this, when Minseok is having trouble staying coherent, Jongdae is gentle and encouraging.

“Her husband does nice things for her like help her with work and buy her flowers and doesn’t even have to say it’s ‘cause he loves her and you do that for Jongdae.”

“You’re silly. Jongdae’s not our mommy,” Haneul speaks up before Minseok has another chance to make a fool of himself, or before Jongdae has a chance to bring everything crashing down (in the sweetest way possible, probably, that asshole). Unfortunately, the shred of hope Minseok has in what he’ll say next is torn to bits. “We can have two daddies. Miyong has two mommies, ‘member? Mrs. Luna and Mrs. Luna’s wife with the short yellow hair.”

“I think that there’s something that Mrs. Lee didn’t tell you,” Jongdae says. He nudges Haneul gently while he sits up, moving the boy into his lap. Minseok stares at Haneul, not particularly wanting to look at Jongdae at this moment. “There are different types of love. There’s the kind of love that Mrs. Luna and Mrs. Luna’s wife have, or Mrs. Lee and her husband. That’s the kind of love between moms and dads — or moms and moms, or dads and dads, or dads and—” The kids start to giggle and Jongdae refocuses. “Then there’s the type of love between you two, as brother and sister. You care about each other a lot, but marrying each other would be gross. And illegal.” At that, both kids grimace. Haneul goes so far as to make gagging noises. Jongdae ruffles his hair. “ _That’s_ how your dad loves me.”

 _Wrong_ , Minseok thinks. “Right,” Minseok says.

“But that’s not fair, then,” Hanui says, looking at Jongdae. “If you love daddy, but he doesn’t love you, then that’s not fair.”

“Sweetheart,” Minseok starts, “I think you’re missing the point of what Jongdae said—”

Hanui violently shakes her head, pouting again. “No! Jongdae _love_ loves you! He’s said it, like, a bajillion times, and he tried to make you a fancy dinner once. But Jongdae isn’t good at cooking that much so that’s why he threw everything out.”

Minseok is in his late twenties with two kids and a steady career, he shouldn’t be able to feel pricks of heat climbing up his neck and crawling around his ears. That’s a lot of information to process at once, a lot of information he doesn’t even know is _true_. He forgets to speak through his internal turmoil, or even look anywhere that isn’t at wide-eyed at Hanui.

“I think it’s time for me to go home,” Jongdae says after forever. His voice is soft, hesitant, sad. Haneul and Hanui both jump at him, clinging to his neck and whining for him to stay like they usually do. It’s a bit different this time. It’s a bit like how his voice sounded after he and Minseok had that big fight about work, and Jongdae didn’t come around for the next week.

Minseok barely registers any sound at all.

 _He_ love _loves you!_

“Is she right?” Minseok’s mouth takes over before his brain can catch up. Three heads snap to look at him. “Is Hanui telling the truth?”

Slowly, Jongdae peels the kids off him and they cooperate with him, sensing the situation. “I’m not sure if this is a talk to have in front of them.”

“Just tell me, Jongdae.”

Jongdae sucks in his upper lip, runs a hand through his hair, stalls. “Yeah. She’s telling the truth.”

“Kids, you two stay here and watch the movie for a bit, okay?” Minseok says softly after a moment to think. “I need to talk to Jongdae alone for a little while.”

Jongdae winces at Minseok’s words but Minseok doesn’t see it, already making his way out of the fort to go up to his room. Once they’re both inside and Minseok can’t hear the telltale signs of his kids eavesdropping, he recognizes the thick silence between them and realizes he doesn’t know what to say from here. He had never planned a confession, never thought about how hard it would be to pull the words from his throat.

“Sorry,” Jongdae says suddenly as Minseok mulls over his words. He plays with his sleeves, pulling them down over his hands and avoiding eye-contact. “I didn’t think they’d ever, um, say anything about it. I understand if you want me to not… be here anymore,” he laughs nervously, sadly, and Minseok’s heart pounds.

“Please don’t,” Minseok blurts. Jongdae looks up at him, resembling something of a heartbroken kitten, and Minseok realizes that was the worst way to word what he’s trying to say. “No! I mean— Don’t leave… Don’t be sorry, either. I— The thing is that I— I love you. I have for a very long time, I think, and maybe that’s why this is so hard to say? I’ve been trying to suppress it for years but apparently now you lo— like me too, which I don’t really understand. You’re so sweet and patient and understanding and talented and beautiful and I’m just—”

Minseok loses himself in his ramblings, now the one to avoid Jongdae’s eyes. He doesn’t notice how Jongdae’s face twists from confusion to a soft-eyed smile, how he quietly steps closer, how he watches Minseok nervously wring his hands. He’s only brought out of his trance when Jongdae places a gentle hand on his jaw. His body warms at the proximity, at the way Jongdae’s eyes flutter shut as he leans in, and his hands find their way to Jongdae’s hips on their own accord.

Their first kiss is cautious, soft, like anything more and they would both shatter in each other’s arms. Minseok tastes like the mint lip balm fading on his lips and Jongdae like the faint taste of caramel coffee that’s stuck to his tongue. Slowly, hesitantly, Jongdae brings up his other hand to rest his hand against Minseok’s chest and Minseok dares to tilt his head, pressing a little harder against Jongdae’s mouth. Once he grows bold enough to swipe his tongue over Jongdae’s lip, they both hear a creak and a soft ‘ _eep!_ ’. They pull away, both reluctant but both with smiles on their faces. Neither bother to move their hands from their original positions.

“Do I hear two little house mice outside my door?” Minseok questions.

“No!” Both Haneul and Hanui yell.

“So no little monsters were eavesdropping on us?” Jongdae presses.

“No,” Haneul says, but Hanui pokes her head through the door.

“I don’t know what eeveesdropping is,” she says.

Jongdae snorts and pulls away, Minseok beckons for his kids to enter his room. “How long were you watching?”

“Only after you were already being icky,” Hanui confirms.

Haneul nods and crawls up onto Minseok’s bed. “Does this mean Jongdae is our daddy too now?”

“No,” Minseok answers as Jongdae chokes down a laugh. “Not… Not yet.”

“But you love him too now, right?” Haneul looks so hopeful.

“I have loved him for a very long time,” Minseok answers honestly. He still doesn’t look at Jongdae while he says this, heat rushing to his ears.

Hanui starts to bounce up and down. “I knew it!” She yells, “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it— wait. If you love Jongdae and he loves you but he’s not our daddy, then what is he?”

Minseok gapes, unsure how to answer. He only just kissed him for the first time not even three minutes ago, and he has no idea how to explain what a ‘boyfriend’ is to his kids yet.

“I’m your Jongdae,” Jongdae cuts in. He runs his fingers down Minseok’s forearm before he entwines their fingers. “I’ve always been your Jongdae.”

“Our Jongddai!” Hanui starts bouncing again. Haneul laughs at her.

“Will you always be our Jongdae?” He asks.

“That I’m not sure—”

“Yes,” Minseok interrupts him. Realistically, something could always go wrong. He’s thought about it so much before, it being one of the reasons he held his feelings back. Jongdae has been by his side for so long that picturing a life without him made his heart clench, but it’s different now. Now, he has Jongdae’s hand in his, he _knows_ Jongdae is as deep in this as he is, and he feels invincible. Relationships are hard but being with Jongdae is so familiar and easy, he’d do anything to keep it like that. He squeezes Jongdae’s hand and smiles softly at him, he knows Jongdae can see the fondness in his eyes. “He’ll always be our Jongdae.”

Jongdae’s smile is like the sun and it pierces straight through Minseok’s heart. The corners of his eyes crinkle as they close the slightest bit and his lips stretch wide across his teeth. Minseok leans in to place a kiss at the corner of Jongdae’s mouth, something he’s wanted to do to that smile for so, _so_ long now, and Jongdae’s smile grows even wider.

Haneul gags again, and it is not the last time he does so. In fact, it is far from it.


End file.
